April 29, 2007

Want to save Besant Nagar beach? 7

After the meeting which Commissioner Lakhoni attended, (previous posts) nothing has been heard from the corporation about the beautification plans. This is an ominous sign. The members fear one night the bulldozers will roll in, gravel and bricks will be dumped on the beachfront and work will begin before you can say, “What ho!”
So a beach festival was organised. Here is an edited version of the report from Adyar times.
“Civil Society Group organised “Living Beach” festival on April 21 at Elliot’s Beach, Besant Nagar.
The idea behind the festival was to sensitise people to the need to maintain the beach clean and pristine. For that, the following measures are necessary.
[1] Make it plastic-free.
[2] Regulate the traffic.
[3] Respect the communities that are dependent on the sea for their livelihood.
[4] Respect the creatures that live on the coastline.
Events included
[1] sand sculpting,
[2] distribution of paper plates and cups to hawkers,
[3] thapattam performance by Kumaravel’s group to create awareness about conservation of Olive Ridley turtles, the need to keep the beach clean and the need to use eco-friendly products.
The highlight of the festival was the sculpting of a huge Olive Ridley in sand. This was done by volunteers of CSG. The group wants to raise awareness in the face of the plan by the city corporation to build structures on the beach in the name of “beautification”.
Many people feel that all that needs to be done is keep the beach clean and remove all illegal structures near the water.
If you wish to be part of this group, you can e-mail to civilsocietygroup@googlegroups.com